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John, would the increase in friction from the rings be offset by decreased friction from other moving parts not included in the system such as valve trane?

I do not know... I do know that these things do matter & also that there are such things as reduced tension rings, that are used with vacuum pumps & such. I think this i sno more than a model on a computer & many items would need fixin before it could produce power...

I do not know... I do know that these things do matter & also that there are such things as reduced tension rings, that are used with vacuum pumps & such. I think this i sno more than a model on a computer & many items would need fixin before it could produce power...

Friction is one issue. The energy to operate a valve train is a 2nd issue. The energy taken to stop and start the mass of a piston and rod at top dead center and bottom dead center is also a factor. I'm sure there are a bunch more.

The Popular Mechanics article noted he was building generation 2 to improve on generation 1. It might prove useful. It might be a big bust. I'm just glad that there still are people willing to think about and try stuff like this.

Some day somebody is going to come up with something that renders the Otto 4 stroke cycle engine obsolete.

Paul Glaves - "Big Bend", Texas U.S.A
"The greatest challenge to any thinker is stating the problem in a way that will allow a solution." - Bertrand Russellhttp://www.bigbend.net/users/glaves

Thanks for posting that. Very interesting. I can't imagine what the advantage of that design was or if it was just the French doing things their own way. After all, the French imitate no one and no one imitates the French.

Thanks for posting that. Very interesting. I can't imagine what the advantage of that design was or if it was just the French doing things their own way. After all, the French imitate no one and no one imitates the French.

The LeRhone was the state-of-the-art airplane engine technology at the end of WW1, much like the Curtiss-Wright Radial engine at the end of WW2. In both cases, they were soon surpassed by other configurations.

Don't pick on the French too much.........There's lots of Nissans (Renault) running around and Airbus (EADS) seems to be selling airplanes. The French are working as hard at being different as they used too.............

That would be Stirling Cycle and it's completely unrelated. A Stirling cycle engine uses an external heat source so anything that burns can be used to add heat to the engine will make it work.

I do have to admit the error on the stirling cycle, but I did say "I think". The external heat source connection is in reference to the common combustion chamber which feeds the combustion products to the pistons which function as expansion chambers. From that aspect, the proposed concept is an analog of a gas turbine, but with the "potential" benefits of a valve regulated engine. What those potential benefits are is beyond my area knowledge.